Women's Basketball Earns No. 11 National Ranking in WBCA Academic Top-25 Poll
Ravens post a 3.524 GPA and is the only team in the NE-10 to make the rankings
RINDGE, N.H. (July 13,
2011) – The Franklin Pierce University women’s
basketball team was honored by the Women’s Basketball Coaches
Association (WBCA) on Wednesday as the Ravens earned a No. 11
national ranking in the WBCA Division II Academic Top-25 Poll.
Franklin Pierce, which was the only school in the Northeast-10
Conference to appear in the rankings, earned a team GPA of 3.524
during the past academic year.
Franklin Pierce was one of just 39 schools across all levels of college basketball (Divisions I, II, III, NAIA, Junior/Community College) to earn a team GPA of 3.5 or better. The WBCA did an academic top-25 for each of the five divisions listed above. Fort Lewis earned the highest GPA in Division II and across all levels by posting a 3.715 mark.
Wednesday’s honor illustrated the fact that Franklin Pierce is a terrific all-around program, both on and off the court. The Ravens concluded the 2010-11 season with a 24-8 overall record, a trip to the NE-10 championship game and a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament. It marked the fourth-straight year the Ravens qualified for the national tournament, and it also was the third-consecutive season Franklin Pierce appeared in the NE-10 title game. This past season came on the heels of Franklin Pierce winning three-straight NCAA East Regional Championships (2008-10), two-straight NE-10 titles (2009-10), a trip to the NCAA Division II National Championship Game in 2009 and a Final Four berth in 2010.
Franklin Pierce has also done extensive work in the community with local children. Led by head coach Steve Hancock and assistant coach Jennifer Leedham, the Ravens have taken part in programs at local schools such as reading to children and physical fitness clinics.
The WBCA, the national organization which promotes the sport of women’s college basketball, has done its fair share of honoring the Franklin Pierce program over the past four years, including naming former standout Johannah Leedham its National Player of the Year on two occasions (2008 & 2010). Back in March, junior center Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.) was named an Honorable-Mention All-American by the organization after she earned player-of-the-year honors from the Northeast-10 and the Daktronics East Region committee.
For more information on Franklin Pierce women’s basketball, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).